Assaggia e osserva per il consumo consapevole nella scuola

Objectives: monitor school meals and students’ appreciation of the different food preparations, promoting their awareness about food use/waste, also in relationship with breakfast and morning snacks. Test tools, determine approval rating, and measure food waste in school canteens in order to develop effective strategies for management and education about prevention or reduction of food waste. Methods: a movement started by parents and teachers, who were worried about excessive food waste in schools, saw the development of an active collaboration between healthcare (SIAN, Bologna’s USL Agency), education (school) and society (parents of the involved classes, company for the scholastic foodservice and local administration). Two questionnaires were prepared, one about the appreciation and consumption of provided meals, and the other about the consumption of breakfast and morning snacks. Between March and May in 2015, a hundred 3rd and 4th grade children filled out the questionnaires at the end of the provided meal, with the help of teachers and UO Hygiene Food and Nutrition’ dietitians as observers. Leftover bread and fruits that were still edible were used as afternoon snacks or rescued for charity. Each phase of the project was recorded on videotape in order to prove the main involvement of all parties mentioned. The analyzed results were reported to all the participants of the project and were discussed jointly, beginning the planning for following school years. Results: during more than 30 days, 2069 nutritional profiles were examined (breakfast, morning snack, and lunch). From these data, it could be seen that about 3⁄4 of the first and the second courses were eaten, while side dishes’, breads’, and fruits’, consumption was at about half. Those who had a proper breakfast and/or morning snack ate, on average, a greater quantity of first and second dishes, and also side dishes and fruits. Interestingly, some differ- ences emerged between the two schools involved in the project. In one of the two schools a significantly higher meal consumption (as well as breakfast and morning snacks) was recorded, reaching a two-fold difference for both second dishes (80% vs 40%) and fruits (70% vs 35%). The active and authoritative teaching style of teachers during meals seems to be the basis for the observed difference between schools with equal socioeconomic status. Conclusions: the questionnaires used turned out to be simple and well accepted by the children, who participated with enthusiasm. A strong point of the project was making them active parts of the process and awarding them with the title of “little tasters”. The project allowed all the participants (teachers, students, parents, scholastic foodservice, local administration and ASL) to see the factors that impact on the acceptance of food choice, and the waste of uneaten food at scholastic foodservices. It has been decided to continue with joint planning between the education, healthcare, and social components, and a project for all the schools of Bologna is now at an advanced stage of planning. This project aims to promote the consumption of proper snacks, by offering fruits as a snack, and to create a system to monitor food waste that can be useful to guide both nutritional education interventions, and food choices offered by scholastic foodservices, which are focusing more and more on reaching a balance between offering healthy food and maximizing customer satisfaction.